In 2024, we will continue to see a greater focus on customer experience instead of cost optimization.
That's a big statement, especially in this economic climate. It means that more companies will be convinced to invest in new tools, technology modernization projects, customer-centric processes, and customer strategy to increase customer loyalty instead of primarily focusing on short-term cost savings. And in doing so, they can uplevel customer relationships, retention, and advocacy and positively impact top-line revenue. Of course, many of these projects will reduce tech debt and positively impact your bottom line as well.
Where do you start? Our data at Forrester Research shows that great customer service is a primary driver of CX quality. Diving deeper, our data shows that there are three primary areas on which to focus to deliver great customer service, none of which should come as a surprise to anyone! They are as follows:
- The agent answers all my questions.
- The agent resolves my problems on the first contact.
- Agents have the authority to solve problems without a supervisor.
So what can you do to deliver on expectations? Try these ideas:
- The agent answers all my questions. Give your agents access to answers. Invest in and maintain a modern knowledge base. Modernize your agent desktop so it can help prioritize agent work and guide agents though predefined processes that proactively surface the right knowledge, customer data, and next steps at the right time. Even small improvements can have an outsized impact on handle time. But don't make it all about tech. Give agents time to have have meaningful conversations with customers so they can dig into the full scope of the problem and provide a more complete answer. Also include time for agents to review policy changes and other communications in addition to pre-planned coaching and learning.
- The agent resolves my problems on first contact. Start with a great self-service experience that allows customers to find answers themselves. If they need to speak with an agent, let your customers choose which channel to use, route them to the best-skilled agent, and pass the interaction history so they do not have to restart the conversation. For issues that might take some offline research, have agents own the issue and be the sole contact point to the customer. Change metrics to focus more on first contact resolution, taking into account customer re-contacts about the same issue that might happen days after the initial contact. And invest in resolution-centric coaching that includes active listening and taking ownership of the issue. Flag great customer interactions that showcase these behaviors and share them with your team.
- Agents have the authority to solve problems without a supervisor. This is about fostering a culture of ownership and a reflection of your customer-centric strategy and operational processes. For example, the Ritz-Carlton empowers customer-facing personnel to spend up to $2,000 per guest to ensure their satisfaction. Of course, it is also about agent accountability and setting clearly defined guardrails for escalations.
With these focus areas, you should see an uptick in customer service quality, which will impact overall customer relationship, retention metrics, and top-line revenue.
Kate Leggett is a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research.